Regal Cinemas will now search your bags in every theater

Following a spate of movie theater shootings in Lafayette, Louisiana and Antioch, Tennessee, movie theater chain Regal Entertainment Group has begun checking inside the bags of movie patrons nationwide.

Regal is the largest movie theater chain in the United States. But none of the recent shootings — the July attack in Lafayette, during a screening of Trainwreck, or the Antioch attack, during a screening of Mad Max, or the Aurora attack — occurred in a Regal theater.

Security issues have become a daily part of our lives in America. Regal Entertainment Group wants our customers and staff to feel comfortable and safe when visiting or working in our theatres. To ensure the safety of our guests and employees, backpacks and bags of any kind are subject to inspection prior to admission.

We acknowledge that this procedure can cause some inconvenience and that it is not without flaws, but hope these are minor in comparison to increased safety.

It's unclear when or where the policy began, but several local TV stations reported online that customers noticed the change in Texas, Virginia, Florida and Ohio beginning earlier this month. One theater in Winter Park, Florida posted a sign that read "for the safety and comfort of all our guests: Backpacks and bags of any kind are subject to inspection prior to entry to this facility."

On social media, moviegoers expressed anger about the decision.

If #regal is doing any searches, I won't watch a movie there for the rest of my life. #boycott

In 2012, after the deadly theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises, Regal issued a statement saying the chain would "monitor the situation and adjust our security needs as necessary."

There were also reports of bag searches at Regal theaters over the weekend at screenings of the hit N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton.

Regal just did a damn near TSA search to get into Straight Outta Compton. That's sad.

While it's unclear how many of these searches were related to the new search protocol, there were reports of extra security at screenings of the movie at multiple theater chains. The film's studio, Universal Pictures, stepped in to help theaters with the expense.

"The studio has not solicited enhanced security for theaters who will begin showing [Compton] this weekend," Universal representatives said in a statement, "but have partnered with those exhibitors who've requested support for their location."

Neither AMC or Cinemark, the nation's next two largest chains, list any kind of bag search policy on their websites.

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